Prop. 16: David v Goliath

Whenever I have questions about a certain proposition, in this case number 16 on our ballot, and the descriptive text (which is sometimes decipherable only to a law school graduate) doesn't satisfy, I follow the advice given by Deep Throat to Bob Woodward in "All the Presidents Men": Follow the money.

In this case the money leads to PG&E, who provides the major funding for Prop 16 to the tune of $35 million and counting.

PG&E has, for decades, controlled the California energy market, beating back attempt after attempt of smaller suppliers to gain even a modest foothold.

But something happened a couple of weeks ago that has been brewing for months and likely was the impetus for Prop 16. Marin County started its own public power agency. It didn't require a vote. If a consumer didn't like the idea he could simply opt out.

San Francisco and several other cities (Vallejo at one time considered this as well) want to follow suit. This shook PG&E to its core and in an attempt to create confusion in the opting out process they mailed thousands of forms with incorrect information to their customers. This drew the ire of the California Public Utilities Commission and elicited a slap on the wrist, and an apology from PG&E.

PG&E and its supporters want us to believe that Prop 16 simply insures that voters have the final say in their public power choice. It seems an odd use of our initiative process. Should say, Starbucks follow suit, and require a vote to determine our public coffee choice?

The wrinkle in Prop 16 (and isn't there always one?) is that it mandates a two-thirds vote in order for a community to choose a public supplier other than PG&E. A two-thirds vote is nearly impossible to achieve under the best of circumstances, but with PG&E throwing Meg Whitman money at every break away attempt, their monopoly will likely continue.

Peter Darbee, PG&E's chief executive officer stated at an investor conference in March that the measure (Prop 16) could save the company the money (estimated by Darbee at between $10 million to $15 million a year) it will have to spend to defeat future individual public power initiatives. Enough said.